|
Order of life. This recurring theme in Isaiah says suffering must come first, then glory. The Jews suffered and cried out for justice time and again. Christ suffered, died and rose. Isaiah’s song says judgment is coming, that God’s people will be glad that they ‘have waited for Him”. What a contrast to the impatience of this restless world! Patiently waiting is a difficult, unexalted duty in American culture today. But as people of God, it becomes a noble duty. Wait patiently in the midst of your sorrows. Small price to pay, you may or may not think, to wait in line for the ultimate e-ticket ride. ‘Trust in the LORD forever! For the LORD is an eternal
Rock’. I struggle with the day to day uncertainties of life. Will I ever find rest on this earth? Inevitably some things must remain a mystery. This year has been fraught with tension and restlessness… my mother’s rapid decline into her dementia, moving from the house where I raised my children, carving out a new career… life is ever-changing!!! You know those God moments. My youngest daughter lives 1500 miles away. She needed something that was promised and I didn’t have it. Furthermore, I didn’t know where I was going to find it. So I did something I don’t do very often….I expressed my frustration out loud, “God, how much longer?” No sooner had I mouthed the words, but the answer appeared before me. Now it wasn’t the answer I was planning on, mind you, but yet there it was, as plain as the nose on my face! I think God must have chuckled at my little faith. Yet I asked …and God answered me. Isaiah shared with us his song to trust. Let me share a popular song that musically speaks to me about God as my salvation, “You Raise Me Up” by the group ‘Secret Garden’: “You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; In God, I trust. Can we trust in one another? |